Bamboo Uganda has unveiled the proposed 5-year plan, which aims at ensuring innovative possibilities in the industry to boost economic growth.
According to Dr. Collin Muhumuza, the General Manager of Amabanda Uganda Limited, a company operating under Bamboo Uganda, bamboo offers a world of innovative possibilities to solve a wide range of challenges.
During an interview with a Nexus reporter on Wednesday, November 26, 2024, Muhumuza said that in the next five (5) years, Bamboo Uganda wants to increase the production of bamboo products such as laminated timber for the export market, grow the global market for bamboo semi-processed products like chips and strips for the export market, and conduct robust research on biochar for better usage on the domestic market as a soil enhancer, among other things.
“Others include purchasing high-end bamboo processing equipment such as bamboo chips pre-processing machinery, procured, installed, and operationalized by Amabanda Uganda Limited. Create at least 125 new jobs mainly for the youth and women as suppliers of bamboo poles, aggregation agents, and machine operators engaged by Bamboo Uganda,” Muhumuza said.
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According to Dr. Lan Clarke, a social entrepreneur in Uganda, the industry plans to increase the geographical coverage of Bamboo Uganda from seven (7) districts, including Mityana, Luwero, Mubende, Mpigi, Moyo, Kayunga, and Buikwe, to at least 15 districts supplying bamboo as a raw material.
“We hope to see at least 2,000 farmers directly engaged by Bamboo Uganda as suppliers of raw materials, and of these, 1,250 will be new farmers, 2,000 farmers will be trained in bamboo agronomic practices and quality management, and 30 Bamboo Uganda staff will be trained in bamboo product quality assurance to meet acceptable export market standards,” Clarke said.
He added that at least 2,000 hectares of land will be under bamboo production systems for increased biodiversity conservation, stating that 500 hectares will be under the agroforestry component and at least 1,500 hectares under monoculture plantations.
According to Muhumuza, Bamboo Uganda will also increase the capacity of its member organizations to meet acceptable international standards for semi-processed bamboo and facilitate its member organizations to be certified to trade in carbon credits.
“Bamboo Uganda will also advocate for the increased inclusion of bamboo products in other industries such as the construction industry, increased resilience of farmers to climate change-related shocks and stresses, and increased reforestation, afforestation, and landscape restoration efforts among rural farming communities,” Muhumuza said.
According to Clarke, implementing these initiatives will increase export trade for bamboo products, investment by private and public sector players in the bamboo value chain, increase the creation of private sector jobs, increase empowerment of women and youth to profitably tap into opportunities along the bamboo value chain, and increase resilience and inclusive economic ecosystems among rural farming communities.
During the recent after-work bamboo gathering event held on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, at Zzimwe Road, Plot 3149 in Muyenga, Kampala, Frederieke Quispel, the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Uganda, commended the leaders of the bamboo industry for their innovative ideas to add value to bamboo, adding that they ought to continue to transform the economy.
Operating under the Bamboo Uganda umbrella, organization members such as Amabanda, Bjimu, Studio Akeka, and Ekibbo produce a diversity of products to meet both local and international demand, including bamboo poles and strips that serve as the foundation for various applications in construction, crafts, and fencing solutions; laminated timbers; roofs; and biochar, among others.
